A fuel filler portion is provided at a rear side surface of a vehicle, for example, on a rear quarter panel. As illustratively shown in FIG. 12, a fuel filler portion 100 includes a fuel filler port 102 and a fuel lid 104.
The fuel filler port 102 is a terminal opening of a fuel inlet pipe, and positioned in a concave region 106 where a part of the rear quarter panel is depressed inward in a vehicle width direction.
The fuel lid 104 is a lid member for covering the concave region 106. The fuel lid 104 is operable to be opened and closed, for example, by means of a hinge mechanism 108 or the like. Further, a lug 110 protruding toward the fuel filler port 102 is disposed on an inner surface of the fuel lid 104 facing the fuel filler port 102. Meanwhile, a lock pin 112 is protruded from a side wall of the concave region 106. When the lock pin 12 is fitted in an opening 114 of the lug 110, the fuel lid 104 is prevented from becoming opened, and is accordingly maintained in a closed state.
The lock pin 112 is movable to advance and retract along its longitudinal direction. The lock pin 112 is pushed by a biasing member (not illustrated), such as, for example, a spring, in such a manner that a tip end portion of the lock pin 112 is exposed in the concave region 106. In operation to return the fuel lid 104 from an opened position to a closed position, the lug 110 pushes and depresses the tip end portion of the lock pin 112 toward a side wall 116 of the concave region 106 while opposing the force exerted by the biasing member. Then, the lug 110 engages with the lock pin 112 when the lock pin 112 meets the opening 114 in the lug 110 and accordingly fits into the opening 114 to establish an engaged state. In the engaged state, the tip end portion of the lock pin 112 is brought into contact with a stopper 118 arranged beneath the opening 114, and accordingly maintained in a slightly depressed state.
The lock pin 112 is provided with various functions including a function of engaging with the fuel lid 104. In JP 2016-22786 A, for example, open and closure signals indicative of opening and closing of a fuel filler port are generated based on advancing and retracting motions of the lock pin 112. For example, in a situation where there is no obstacle in an advancing direction of the lock pin 112, the lock pin 112 is completely protruded into the concave region 106. In such a protruded state of the lock pin 112, the open signal is generated. On the other hand, in a retreated state of the lock pin 112, such as a state where the tip end portion of the lock pin 112 is brought into contact with the stopper 118 of the fuel lid 104, the closure signal is generated. The generated open and closure signals are sent to an ECU which is a control unit of a vehicle. The ECU performs start-up prohibiting control for prohibiting start-up of an internal combustion engine during a period of receiving the open signal.
In addition, the ECU may also in some cases control switching of a seal valve (not illustrated) arranged in a fuel inlet pipe based on the open and closure signals from the lock pin 112. For example, upon receipt of the open signal, the ECU causes the seal valve to be in an opened state. On the other hand, upon receipt of the closure signal, the ECU causes the seal valve to be in a closed state.